In early October last year, after a few months of tossing around the idea, Eric and I bought airplane tickets to visit Kailing in Chicago. We packed our bags, went up to SFO and took an American Airlines flight from SFO to ORD arriving late on a Thursday night.

Day 1:

Eric and I telecommuted most of Friday. I worked out of coffee shops and Eric worked out of the small Facebook office. For lunch, we met up at Latin-Asian Fusion joint, Saucy Porka, where I had some pozole. It had plenty of depth, umami and heat, though there wasn’t enough hominy. Hominy is the star ingredient in pozole and the main reason why I love it so much. It was their first week serving it. Maybe they have improved it since then.

After a few more hours of working, Eric and I met up with Kailing at her place and we left for dinner. Where? Topo Gigio Ristorante in Old Town. It’s an Italian restaurant that, based on the mouse themed decor, must be named after the old TV character of the same name.

I don’t eat a lot of Italian food these days, and Topo Gigio was a well needed change. I can’t remember exactly what we ordered, but I do remember that the calamari was tender and the pasta was perfectly cooked.

Our next stop for the night is probably the best bar that I have ever been to, Headquarters Beercade. While it may not have a hip speakeasy vibe or artfully crafted cocktails, it has something that I think is much better: 37 vintage arcade games.

They have a long menu of beers and cocktails and a few bars around the arcade. All the games are free. So, HQ only makes money from drinks. The atmosphere was relaxed and the clientele were friendly.

My favorite game was the Star Wars Episode I pinball game. Coincidentally, it is actually the last game ever made by Chicago based pinball manufacturer, Williams (WMS Industries).

It’s a multiplayer game that allows players to independently work their way up the Jedi ladder while battling Darth Maul and stealing multiball progress from each other. Kailing and I were okay, but Eric did well enough to put his name up on the high score list.

I think that there are plenty of people like me out there who don’t like typical bars, but who love bars with games. We are an underserved group.

We need more HQ Beercades, Fat Cats and 1ups, especially in the Bay Area. I hope that people continue to think outside the box and create more spaces like this.

Day 2:

After a good nights sleep, we started off the next day with some exploring around the city.

For breakfast, we ate Cronuts at Alliance Bakery & Cafe in Wicker Park. I haven’t been to Dominique Ansel yet. So, I don’t know what the original cronut tastes like. However, I can safely say that the cronut I had that day at Alliance wasn’t special. The cream was not bad, but the cronut itself was incredibly dry and messy to eat. It wasn’t the flaky croissant-doughnut hybrid that I had heard of.

Hopefully, I can get my hands on an authentic Dominique Ansel cronut sometime this year.

We had hot dogs for lunch. Not dirty water hot dogs from a street cart, but gourmet hot dogs at Franks ‘N’ Dogs in Lincoln Park.

Eric had the Banh Mi dog: lemongrass & coriander chicken sausage, pickled daikon & carrot, sriracha mayo, jalapeno, cilantro and spicy pickled duck egg.

Kailing had the Krazy Kimchi dog: spicy beef sausage, braised short rib & turnips, kimchi, wild rice and basil.

I had the Mystery Corn Dawg Platter. I think the platter is something to be shared. It was just too much sausage and corn meal for me.

A trip to a major city is not complete without fine food. Our choice for dinner? Kailing’s favorite, the Michelin 1 star gastropub, Longman & Eagle. While we waited for our table, we visited nearby G-Mart Comics. Then we moved into the Longman & Eagle bar to have some whiskey and whiskey based drinks, two things that they are famous for.

Below is the first thing we had. I actually don’t remember what it was. ): Kailing, maybe you could help?

Of course we had to have their roasted marrow bones. They served it with bacon shallot jam, preserved meyer lemon, sea salt and sourdough toast. It was savory like meat but smooth and spreadable like butter. Mmmmm meat butter.

Next we had some surf and turf. Longman & Eagle’s take on the pub classic is porchetta of pork belly and bbq gulf shrimp on a bed of anson mills cheese grits with roasted shishito peppers and braised collard greens.

Unfortunately, I initially didn’t remember the name of the next dish. I really need to make it a point to either take the menu with me or at least take a picture of it. ):

However, after some thought and staring at my pictures, I figured out that the fish is laying on a bed of salsify. Then, after some creative googling, I found a tweet from Longman & Eagle’s Twitter with the exact dish we ate!

On one side, we have pan roasted skuna bay salmon on a bed of milk poached salsify and red wine veal reduction.

On the other side, we have brandade ravioli, topped with a porcini ragout.

The food and atmosphere were perfect. I can see why Kailing likes it so much. If I lived in Chicago, I would visit every month.

Day 3:

Chicago seems to have its own version of everything that New York has. New York City has the subway, New York hot dogs and New York pizza while Chicago has the L, Chicago style hot dogs and Chicago style pizza. I don’t know if I really consider Chicago style deep dish to be real pizza, but I can’t argue against one fact. It is delicious.

We got our fix at Lou Malnati’s.

In my book of late night food,  deep dish is definitely up there with tacos, poutine, grilled cheese sandwiches, New York pizza, curry, ramen and anything fried.

I’m not sure what’s going on here.

Our last meal in Chicago!

Hot Pot at Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown. I love hotpot, though I couldn’t have it too frequently. It takes too much effort and can be messy.

You might be wondering, “did you do anything in Chicago other than eat?”. We did! Stay tuned. I have a post about art and the streets of Chicago coming soon.

Also, thanks Kailing for showing me and Eric around! I still think New York is the best city in the world, but Chicago is not far behind.